Nasdaq, S&P 500, Dow Futures Fall After Trump Directs Strikes ‘To Hold Iranian Forces Accountable’: NVDA, SLS, MRK, SKHYV, QS Stocks In Focus

• The Islamic Republic News Agency said in a post on X on Sunday that all transit through Hormuz “is temporarily unavailable.” 

• Oil prices jumped by over 4% following the escalating tensions between the two countries. 

• The development comes ahead of the start of the new earnings season on Wall Street, with the biggest American banks kicking off with quarterly results starting this week.

U.S. stock futures declined in the overnight session late Sunday after the country’s military launched fresh strikes against Iran following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz once again.

The Dow futures were down 0.26%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.34%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.72% at 9:00 PM EDT.  

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Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) were all trading in the red at the time of writing.

The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) was down 0.28% amid ‘extremely bearish’ sentiment.

How Did US Markets Fare Last Week?

All three benchmark indexes closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 leading gains to close 0.42% up. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.29% each at the end of the session.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes also ended the week higher, gaining 1.23% and 0.29% respectively. The Dow was down 0.5% for the week.

US Market Drivers

U.S. stock futures are declining ahead of Monday’s open as fresh conflict with Iran has raised concerns among investors. The U.S. Central Command said in a post on X late Sunday that it had launched strikes against Iran following disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

“At 5 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching more strikes against Iran to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The Commander in Chief has directed the strikes to hold Iranian forces accountable,” it said.

The Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran’s official news agency, earlier said in a post on X on Sunday that all transit through the Strait “is temporarily unavailable,” following the “unlawful activities by US naval forces in the area…”

“Once conditions stabilize and normalcy returns, applications will be processed sequentially and clearances will be granted accordingly,” it added.

U.S. President Donald Trump, however, challenged that assertion, saying that the strategically important shipping route remained open to commercial traffic.

Meanwhile, several media reports alleged last week that Iran was plotting to assassinate Trump, based on intelligence from Israel. In a post on X, Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed to seek revenge for those killed in U.S. strikes in the country earlier this year.

“We pledge to avenge your pure blood and the blood of all the martyrs of these two [recent] wars by taking revenge against the criminal, disgraceful murderers. This vengeance is what our nation is demanding, and this must definitely be done,” he said.

In response, Trump said that the U.S. was ready to “decimate” Iran if the allegations were true. In a post on Truth Social, the president said, “1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!”

“Orders have already been given, and the U.S. Military is ready, willing, and able, for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran – PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!” he added.

Iran’s news agency responded in a post on X that “Any continuation of the covenant-breaking US aggression will be met with even severer responses.”

The Kobeissi Letter noted that the memorandum of understanding between the two countries appears to have come to an end in a post on X.

The escalating conflict comes ahead of the start of the new earnings season on Wall Street, kicking off with prints from the biggest American banks this week. Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan (MS), and Citi Group (C) are some of the biggest names that will report quarterly results on Tuesday.

On the economic front, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the consumer price index for June, also on Tuesday.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA): The AI-darling was also in the retail spotlight as the stock fell nearly 1% in the overnight session amid the rising geopolitical conflict, closure of the Strait, and larger macroeconomic trends.

SELLAS Life Sciences Group Inc. (SLS): Shares of the late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company drew attention among retail investors due to intensifying speculation about a Merck & Co. (MRK) buyout.

Merck & Co Inc. (MRK): The pharmaceutical company is garnering attention ahead of the upcoming keytruda patent cliff after FDA approved 2 versions of the drug for bladder cancer last week, as well as a buyout speculation over SLS.

SK Hynix Inc. (SKHYV): The South Korean chipmaker jumped onto the retail radar after it spiked nearly 13% on its Nasdaq debut on Friday.

QuantumScape Corp. (QS): The energy storage company drew attention ahead of its second-quarter earnings expected on July 22, with retail investors anticipating it to be the “most important” update in the company’s history.

Global Market Trends

Crude oil prices climbed significantly late Sunday following the renewed tensions in the Middle East. At the time of writing, Brent crude futures expiring in September were up more than 4%, trading at $79.08 a barrel, while WTI crude futures expiring in August also rose by over 4% to $74.35 per barrel.

Yields on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.585% at the time of writing, while spot gold prices fell to around $4,075.03 an ounce.

Asian markets opened the week lower, with South Korea’s KOSPI down more than 2% at the open on Monday and China’s SSE Composite index falling about 1%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Australian stocks were also trading lower at the open.

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Aashika Suresh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. StockTwits’ news team content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. For more, see our editorial policy. This article was originally published on StockTwits.

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